Formerly the Camden Theatre, The Music Machine and The Camden Palace; KOKO is a world-renowned music venue dating back to the 1900’s and has hosted artists including Prince, Madonna, Amy Winehouse and The Rolling Stones in its intimate theatre.
KOKO closed its doors to the public in 2019 to undergo a substantial £70m renovation which would see the integration of the Grade II listed Victorian theatre with two adjacent buildings, a former piano factory and the Hope & Anchor Pub.
WellMax’s original brief was providing scaffolding access enveloping the exterior of the theatre and surrounding buildings to enable specialist trades to undertake redecoration, pointing, brickwork cleaning etc.
As trades began their restoration works, it became apparent that more comprehensive remediation would be required to the buildings existing structure. WellMax were to quick to respond to their client’s extended scope and provide support wherever necessary to the growing works.
Scaffolding structures were soon required inside the staged theatre and dance floor area. A complex birdcage scaffolding structure was built in the seating risers to enable the trademark red and gold walls, ceilings and ornate plaster features to be restored and to enable the installation of a new lighting and sound rigging structure.
A new roof terrace and fly tower were to be built; to facilitate this phase a temporary roof structure was needed to provide watertight coverage whilst openings were made in the ceilings’ below, for the construction of the new extension.
At the front of the building a staggered scaffolding structure was erected on the roof of the building encircling the copper dome roof to undertake the refurbishment and later, the replacement of this landmark feature.
Part way through the redevelopment, the project was disrupted by a fire to the infamous dome on the rooftop which disrupted the schedule and shortly after, furthermore, by the COVID-pandemic and nationwide lockdown.
WellMax’s scope significantly grew due to a multitude of reasons and WellMax were able to adapt to support their client and other trades with multiple scaffolding structures simultaneously assembled across the site. The ever-changing scope was managed on site through direct communication between WellMax Management and their design team, principal contractor and the client. Our experienced scaffolding team have been on site since November 2018 strategically maintaining labour levels and on-hand to dynamically manage requirements to enable a smooth delivery on site through to the completion date.
Read about our works in our recently published article in Scaffolding Association Yearbook
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